I won't lie, sending my application -- and hopefully getting accepted -- to a tea review club is why I'm back. Aside from the need to update and dust off my blog, it gave me the motivation and eagerness to start tea cupping again. And I think it's working!
Lucky you, I have 2 "non-blogged" sessions in my note book, so I will be making 2 separate posts. Also, scroll down to get a holiday promo code with yunomi.us!
Let's start with the Kyoto Obubu Farm Tea Plantations' Houjicha comparison I did months ago.
Teas tend to differ from year to year, but their profile generally doesn't go to extremes, while I believe this tea cupping session will still be relevant and help you decide which one to go for, I did something a little extra; I aged them, for about a year and a half. The proposed drinking date being until the 31st of December 2014. I kept them all sealed and well stored.
In the Houjicha category, I had samples for Basic Roast, Smoky Roast, Dark Roast, and Organic Superior.
With names like these, you'd be wondering which one your palate wants. I did too, so I bought all of them, and I will now lay them down for you.
Beware, this is my second try with tables!
| Tea | Houjicha Basic Roast |
Houjicha Smoky Roast |
Houjicha Dark Roast |
Organic Superior Houjicha |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry leaf | - Crispy, dark & medium brown leaves of medium length - Twigs & thinly (a few looser) rolled leaves -Shiny coppery sheen on leaves - Aroma of roasted barley, light coffee roast, bitter cacao and barley sweetness |
- Crispy, dark medium brown colour - Barely shiny - Long twigs and leaves, ratio of flattened rolled leaves & twigs 40/60 - Aroma of light barley sweetness, mild coffee upper notes, reminiscent of Assam teas (raisins and brown bread) |
- Crispy, dark & medium brown colour - Barely shiny - Medium & small lengths of twigs and leaves with large dust pieces - Ratio of flattened rolled leaves & twigs 60/40 - Aroma reminiscent of Assam sourness (brown bread), a little barley, very light white bread |
- Light brown with some darker leaves & twigs - Ratio of small flattened pieces of rolled leaves and twigs 20/80 - Some dust pieces - Strong sweet aroma of barley. Strong roasted smell. Very pleasant. |
| 1st Steeping Method: Gaiwan |
60 ml | 2.5g | 80°C | 10 Seconds |
| Wet leaves | - Black-brown, very shiny - Roasted barley aroma |
- Dark brown, shiny - Strong roasted barley aroma |
- Black-brown, shiny - Medium-roasted barley aroma Smells a lot like steeped barley tea |
- Light brown and vibrant green, not very shiny Looks like steeped sencha with added twigs - Aroma of lightly roasted barley and green tea (sencha) |
| Liquor | - Light amber Colour - Sweet almond tofu and light barley aroma |
- Medium orange amber colour - Light steeped barley aroma |
- Medium brown amber colour - Light sweet steeped barley aroma |
- Light orange amber colour - Green (sencha) and light roasted barley aroma |
| 1st Taste | Light roasted barley taste. Mild in body and astringency. |
Rounder roasted barley taste with mild astringency. Little more intensity to it and a mild sweetness. |
Strong Roasted barley taste with some astringency. Almost coffee like in taste. Somehow tastes like sencha a little bit. |
Milder in taste with some light marine (reminding me of fish oil) and barley notes. Smooth with a mild astringency. It has a mild green sweetness to it. Round & smooth. |
| 2nd Steeping Method: Gaiwan |
60 ml | 2.5g | 80°C | 30 seconds |
| 2nd Taste & Rating |
Same as 1st taste with added roundness and tastier. Rating: 3.5/5 |
Much more smoky than the 1st taste. Rounder with more astringency. It has a light taste that is almost like fish oil. It made me cough because of the smokiness! Rating: 2/5 |
Same as 1st taste with added roundness. Rating: 3/5 |
Sweeter and rounder than 1st taste. Almost fruit-like with hints of stone fruits. Has a green (sencha) after-taste. Rating: 3/5 |
Note that a rating of 3/5 doesn't mean it's not worth buying. I'm a harsh rater. This is on a scale of horrible to fantastic. Those were good teas, but I found the Smoky Roast too much for my taste. If you like very smoky, this is a great contender to Lapsam Souchong lovers. They are definitely interesting and I would recommend them just because these are types of green tea that you won't find easily, even in a tea store.
This table was hell to correct. It won't for the love of me center to the left so it doesn't spill too much on the right side. Bear with me, cellphone users, I've seldom used HTML since I learned the basics 17 years ago.
Stay alert! Another post will be done within the week.
Little edit here: I forgot to give credit to yunomi.us for selling the tea. They are truly fantastic and I really like this online shop. Frankly, I have 2 favourites, but when it comes to Japanese teas and related items, I almost exclusively go with them. It's late and I need to go sleep, but I'll write myself a note to try and find some promo code somewhere if I can. Cheers!
There it is! 30% off on Holiday collections! Enter promo code YUHOLIDAYS at yunomi.us!
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